The Comic Speculator – New Comics Roundup 10/13/2010

The Comic Speculator is a blog written by WorthPoint Comic Book “Worthologist” Matt Baum that takes a look at each week’s hot new comics and back issues and the comic market place in general. Prices discussed here are taken from the Overstreet Guide to Comics (OVST), Comicspriceguide.com (CPG) and current online auction sales. Sales numbers and rankings are courtesy of ICV2.com. The codes under the prices of new titles discussed are Diamond Comics order codes that can be used to help your local comic retailer in ordering the issues discussed.

New Comics Roundup:

Below you will find all the info you could possibly need on the comics shipping this Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010. For a full list of comics shipping this week, click here. To find a comic shop near you, click here.

Variant Watch:

Here’s a look at the variant comics hitting the shelves this week. The ratios discussed (i.e. 1:10) represent the ratio of regular covers retailers must order to receive one of the variant covers.

DC:

Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne#5 ships this week with 1:25 variant, this time by Ryan Sook. Each variant has featured a head shot of Bruce in different eras and this one features him in 1940s detective wear. The Return of Bats variants have been selling well but are still pretty affordable. You can still pick most of them up for less than $15. Watch for an $8-$10 price tag on this one and it should be easy to find due to the popularity of the series.

Knight and Squire #1 Tucci variant

Spinning out of Grant Morrison’s Batman comes Knight and Squire #1 this week, and it ships with a 1:10 variant by comics legend Bill Tucci. Tucci is best known for his work on his creator-owned series from the 1990s Shi. This one could be hard to find as retailers probably won’t be ordering piles of the first issue, just in case no one cares about Knight and Squire (see below for more on this one). Watch for $10-$15 price tag on this one.

Superman #703 Bremejo variant

Superman #703 ships with a awesome 1:10 variant by Lee Bremejo and it’s going to be hard for any Super-nerd to pass up. It’s been a while since we’ve seen Bremejo painting DC covers, but this one was worth the wait. The other variants from the JMS “Grounded” story line aren’t selling for much ($7-$9), but I’d expect this one to go quick due to Bremejo’s popularity. Watch for an $8-$12 price tag here.

Dynamite:

Warlord of Mars #1 Ross variant

Warlord of Mars #1 ships this week with four different covers—shipping in equal amounts—and a limited 1:50 Alex Ross virgin variant (virgin meaning there’s no title on the cover to interfere with Ross’s gorgeous art). This first issue ships for $1, so it might not be that strange to see a few of these out there, but I’m guessing most retailers won’t order the 50 necessary. Watch for a $50-$60 price tag on this one.

Marvel:

Amazing Spider-Man #645 Hitch "Vs." variant

Amazing Spider-Man #645 ships with another 1:15 “Spidey Vs.” variant, this time by Bryan Hitch. This is a great-looking variant, but I don’t get it. I thought idea behind the “Vs.” variants was to show Spidey fighting a well-known villain of his, like Chris Bachalo did with the last one that featured Spidey vs. the Lizard. This one should be pretty easy to find, as most comic shops should be ordering at least 15 copies of Amazing Spidey. Watch for an $8-$10 price tag here.

Daken #2 Mayhew vampire variant

Incredible Hulks #614 Espin vampire variant

Invincible Iron Man #31 Larocca vampire variant

New Avengers #5 Perger vampire variant

Thor #616 Stegman vampire variant

X-Men #4 Mayhew vampire variant

More Marvel vampire variants this week. Look for vampy variants of Daken #2 by Mike Mayhew, Incredible Hulks #614 by Salvador Espin, Invincible Iron Man #31 by Salvador Larocca, New Avengers #5 by Stephanie Perger, Thor #616 by Ryan Stegman, and X-Men #4 also by Mayhew. All the vampire variants ship with a 1:15 ratio and are selling for $8-$10 each, which could make for a pricey week if you’re collecting them all. If you wait and watch eBay closely, you might be able to pick up a few of these closer to the $5 range. Of course, auction sniping like that is not for the faint of heart.

Speculator Picks of the Week

These are comics that could sell out very quickly due to conservative ordering, popular demand, shipping errors, a ridiculous amount of false start penalties from the Green Bay Packers offensive line or any other set of unforeseen events. Pick them up while you can or pay too much for them later . . .

Solicitation: Just as Gotham City has Batman and Robin, London has Knight and Squire—the British heroes and frequent allies of The Dark Knight! In a secret bar within the city where peace is kept magically, heroes and villains gather to enjoy a pint and talk about their day. But what happens when the magical barriers that disallow fighting are dropped and a building full of heroes and villains confront each other all at once? Knight and Squire have to keep the peace and save both friend and foe in this six-issue miniseries from hot writer Paul Cornell (Action Comics, Captain Britain and MI:13) and up-and-coming artist Jimmy Broxton (The Unwritten).

Why it’ll go fast: Paul Cornell’s Action Comics has been fantastic and a lot of his fans are looking forward to this one. Will retailers care about the British Batman and Robin? Probably not, no matter how well it’s written. The problem that retailers see is that Knight and Squire is not written by Grant Morrison and doesn’t star Batman. So, sales failure, right? Wrong. When the buzz about this one gets out, retailers will be desperately re-ordering #1, only to find it gone. Watch for a pretty quick sellout here and online prices to be similar to Cornell’s first couple of issues of Action Comics (now selling for $7 and up).

Solicitation: No bad too big in this all-new, monthly series! The fan-favorite Angel team of Brian Lynch and artist Franco Urru are back! And this time, it’s all about Spike. He’s out on his own, away from Angel’s watchful eye, and in charge of his own destiny. Lover, fighter, vampire with a soul, he’s kick-starting his biggest adventure yet. Damsels: prepare to be saved and wooed! Forces of evil: get ready to be destroyed and mocked! Featuring guest-appearances by Angel, Illyria, and a face from the past seeking to destroy his future!

Why it’ll go fast: Not long ago there was a major Internet fracas whipped up when Buffy creator Joss Whedon made a statement that inferred the IDW Angel comics did not take place in his Buffy continuity. Basically meaning, they don’t count. This drove fans and the writer of the Angel series (Bill Willingham) nuts, and there was much ado on the net. The funny thing was, Whedon’s announcement didn’t affect sales on IDW’s Angel at all. Now that Angel is back at Dark Horse, fans of the IDW continuity can follow their new hero Spike, and I’m guessing they will. IDW consistently puts out high-quality licensed titles that show the utmost respect to the fans. At least until some jerk creator comes along and takes his toys back. I don’t see Spike as an instant sellout, but it will go fast.

Solicitation: Ollie Janson had it all going for him—plenty of friends at school, good looks and his coach called him one of the most talented basketball players he’s ever seen. But that was when he could still move his legs. Now he’s living with multiple sclerosis, missing all the little things he used to take for granted and escaping into the world of movies and comics with his best friend. Then . . . Superior entered his life. The newest smash superhero comic from Mark Miller (Kick-Ass, Nemesis, Old Man Logan) and his Ultimate Avengers 2 collaborator Leinil Francis Yu (Secret Invasion, New Avengers, Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk) is sure to be the most talked-about new series of 2010!

Why it’ll go fast: Superior looks like Millar and Yu’s take on Captain Marvel (DC), but unlike Billy Batson’s Boy Scout demeanor, I can only assume when Ollie Janson transforms into a hero, something nasty happens. It just wouldn’t be a Millar joint without the ironic hyper-violence. Like all the other Millar projects, watch for this one to sell out almost instantly (and a movie announcement after issue #2). It’s easy to take shots at Millar’s formulaic writing and snide, macho dialogue, but I have to admit, it works on me every time. Superior looks like good, violent fun.

————————————-

Matt Baum is WorthPoint’s comic book Worthologist. If you have any questions about these books or anything else in the comic book world feel free to contact me or post your question below in the “comments” section below. Also, you can follow him on Twitter, where I’m always screaming about something nerd-related. Thanks to all Matt’s new followers and keep the comments coming! Want to know what your comics are worth? Join WorthPoint to search its database or use its “Ask A Worthologist” feature. Remember to post the title, issue number and cover price. And finally, a word to the Federal Trade Commission; all the comics discussed here are purchased solely by the writer, who receives no gifts or free merchandise from any publishers, even though he would graciously accept them.